0:00

It's the fall of two thousand seventeen

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in Rancho Tohama, California. A

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man and his wife are driving to a doctor's

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appointment. When another car crashes

0:08

into them, sending them flying off the road.

0:11

Disoriented, they stumble out of the

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car, only to hear dozens of gunshots

0:15

whizzing past them. This is just a chapter

0:18

of a much larger nightmare unraveling

0:20

in their small town. From Wondery,

0:22

this is actually happening. It's a podcast

0:24

that features extraordinary true stories

0:26

of life changing events told by the

0:28

people who live them. In a special five

0:30

part series called Point blank, This

0:32

is actually happening sheds light on a forgotten

0:35

killing spree in Rancho Toama where

0:37

a lone gunman devastated a small

0:39

town in Northern California. Attacking

0:41

eight different locations in the span of

0:43

only twenty five minutes, overshadowed by

0:45

the Las Vegas shooting that dominated the headlines

0:48

just weeks earlier, This small community

0:50

quickly faded from the National spotlight and

0:52

was left alone to pick up the pieces by

0:54

themselves. Point blank gives you

0:56

five intimate first person accounts of

0:58

what happened that day from a father

1:00

that drew the gunman away from a local school

1:02

to the sister of the shooter. These are riveting

1:05

stories will stick with you long after you

1:07

listen, exploring the question, what

1:09

happens when everything changes? You're

1:11

about to hear a clip, a point blank from

1:13

this is actually happening. While you're listening.

1:15

Follow this is actually happening wherever you get

1:18

your podcasts and hey, Prime members, you

1:20

can listen ad free on Amazon Music.

1:22

Download the Amazon Music app today.

1:30

We've lived together by that time for three

1:32

years already. And then we bought

1:35

a place out here and moved out here. She

1:39

loved it. She loved being out in the country. She

1:41

liked the the serenity, the the privacy.

1:44

We were kind of out on the edge. I

1:46

was never home. I was on the roadworking

1:49

construction. I was only home on weekend.

1:51

Or between jobs, but

1:53

it was more about her that made her

1:55

happy to be out here where we could have

1:58

space and have our animals and have a garden,

2:00

you know. Right now, we're looking at

2:02

snow capped mountains all the way around, beautiful

2:05

mouschastah, and that lesson and

2:07

everything in between. It's it's lovely.

2:12

We can see the stars you know, we used

2:14

to get up on the roof and set up the telescopes

2:17

and, you know, with a lot of ambient light

2:19

to interfere. No. We we enjoyed the

2:21

whole experience of being out in the country. It

2:23

it was awesome, but you you

2:26

do kinda have to be tough to to live here.

2:28

You know, it's tough. But life

2:30

is tough. Life is a challenge. Right?

2:34

I'd had a shoulder injury.

2:36

I'd had surgery, so I was off work.

2:40

And I was just about to the point where I was

2:42

a couple more weeks, and then I was gonna hit the road

2:44

again and go to work. So at that tail event,

2:46

I was going to a doctor's appointment and

2:48

reading. She was going along with

2:50

me. We're on our way to her

2:52

doctor's appointment. We're

2:55

driving down the road. And we

2:57

see this guy in in our lane I

3:00

was driving. And I said something

3:02

to Michelle to somebody's drunk

3:04

officer early, you know. And so

3:06

I swerved into the other You know?

3:08

He we're closing. He swerved into

3:10

that lane as well. And he's

3:12

holding his track. You know? And I

3:14

thought, what the hell? You know?

3:17

We're closing the whole time and I at

3:20

the last I turned to get out

3:22

of his way, and he

3:25

t boned right behind my door, and

3:28

Hernan went flying. Our

3:33

car spun and hell

3:36

we ended up on a side street there from

3:38

the main road you

3:40

know, I checked on Wondery. y'all

3:42

right? And she kinda gave me

3:44

the whole, you know, she was hurt. I'm

3:48

I was still in one piece, you know,

3:50

but I said, well, let's get out of Hernan. I

3:52

couldn't open my door. So we had to crawl

3:54

out her side and she crawls out and

3:56

falls down immediately. She was

3:58

hurt. I

4:01

crawled out and just as I put one foot

4:03

out the door, the gunfire began. And

4:08

Michelle's on the ground. And she looks

4:10

up to me as someone's shooting. I don't

4:12

know because we're disoriented with a bad

4:14

car accident. I get out and I look

4:16

over the the roof of the car, in

4:18

the direction where I knew the creek and the pick

4:20

up was and he's firing again.

4:23

He had laser sights. He's

4:25

firing and I told Michelle, run.

4:29

She got up and she went little whiz and

4:31

fell down and then got back up and

4:33

ran. I'm thinking

4:35

she's out of the way. I went

4:37

around back to the main road. Sure

4:41

not if he follows me. I'm a big target. So

4:44

I'm running away. I'm widening this

4:46

gap. Michelle's running up this

4:48

other street. I'm running down this way. He's

4:50

following me. Good. That's what I want.

4:53

Fireing the whole time, round after

4:55

round, not machine gun. It was

4:58

poo poo poo poo. They're

5:01

bouncing off the ground. I'm running uphill.

5:03

I need to get covered somewhere, but there was nowhere

5:06

to get covered. About that

5:08

time, some

5:10

people pulled up and I I go

5:12

up to the car and let me in.

5:15

And tried to open the car door

5:18

on this SUV, and the people

5:20

locked it. They weren't let me in, and then they backed

5:23

back up. My hand's still in the handle of their

5:25

car, and they pull me to the ground.

5:27

Bullots are flying. They're scared too.

5:30

So I'm left there at myself up. The bullets

5:32

are still flying. I up

5:34

and I don't know how I get another ten

5:36

feet.

5:37

And that's when the first bullet hit me.

5:40

And I hit the ground. Hey,

5:46

Prime members. You can listen to this is

5:48

actually happening ad free on Amazon

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Music. Download the Amazon Music app

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today.